Cristiano Ronaldo invests in Perplexity AI, enters partnership

Bloomberg Sofia Horta e Costa Billionaire footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has taken a stake in Perplexity AI Inc marking the Portuguese star s majority of high-profile venture to date The size of the stake and financial terms weren t disclosed in a message published Thursday Perplexity AI also entered a global sponsorship agreement with Ronaldo and launched an interactive hub for fans on its search engine Founded in Perplexity has emerged as one of the fastest-growing AI startups positioning itself as a direct challenger to Google The San Francisco-based company was valued at billion in a September funding round and has been expanding its enterprise tools paid subscriptions and international footprint amid surging demand for AI search alternatives Related Articles Silicon Valley meets the court Tech trio powering padel s rise in Bay Area Netflix to acquire Warner Bros studio and streaming business for billion Meta risks temporary ban on WhatsApp AI plan amid EU probe Meta s Zuckerberg plans deep cuts for metaverse efforts Tesla reliability improves sharply in new Consumer Reports evaluation Ronaldo who is in the present based in Saudi Arabia has a net worth of about billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index which not long ago valued his wealth for the first time Until now he has primarily invested in his home country of Portugal and has focused on smaller businesses like the acquisition of the Lisboa Racket Center as well as a hotel chain gyms and a media group The resources comes weeks after Ronaldo met with US President Donald Trump in Washington an encounter widely shared on social media after Trump posted a video of the pair together While neither side disclosed details of their conversation it sparked online speculation about foreseen commercial or promotional ties More stories like this are available on bloomberg com Bloomberg L P